Chapter 3 Transuranium nuclides in the world's oceans

Distribution and source of plutonium in sediments from the southern Gulf of Mexico

Here, we report on new data (75 analyses) of plutonium (Pu) isotopes to elucidate activity concentrations, inventories, sources, and their transport from the ocean surface to the seafloor from a collection of six deep-sea sediment cores (depths ranging from 257 to 3739 m) in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Sediment cores collected from the continental shelf and upper slope region of the Gulf of Mexico showed ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratios of 0.15 to 0.26, and ^239+240Pu-inventories ranging from 14.7 to 33.0 Bq m^-2. Inventories and ratios are consistent with global fallout Pu for this tropical region. In contrast, sediment cores collected from the lower slope region and abyssal plain showed low ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratios of 0.07 to 0.13 and much lower ^239+240Pu inventories below 6.8 Bq m^-2. This implies that only a small fraction of the expected global fallout Pu has reached the deep-sea sediments. The low ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu isotope ratios indicate that fallout from the Nevada testing site was an important source of Pu in deep-sea sediments, and that this Pu was likely more efficiently scavenged from the water column than Pu from global fallout. We estimated that up to 44% of the total inventory of ^239+240Pu in deep-sea sediments is due to the Nevada source. Low values and a progressive decrease of ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratios and ^239+240Pu inventories with increasing water depth have been previously reported for the Gulf of Mexico. Analysis of Pu isotopes in two sediment traps from the upper slope regions shows ²⁴⁰Pu/²³⁹Pu ratios comparable to those observed in global fallout. These results indicate that global fallout Pu is currently the main source of Pu in sinking particles in the water column. Therefore, a significant fraction of global fallout Pu must still be present, either in a dissolved phase, or as biologically recycled material in the water column, or scavenged on the shelf and shelf break. Our results bring to light important questions on the application of Pu isotopes to establish sediment chronologies in deep-sea sediments, since global fallout features such as the 1963 maximum are not available.

236U, 237Np and 239,240Pu as complementary fingerprints of radioactiveeffluents in the western Mediterranean Sea and in the Canada Basin (Arctic Ocean)

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of combining the conservatively behaving anthropogenic radionuclides ²³⁶U and ²³⁷Np to gain information on the origin of water masses tagged with liquid effluents from Nuclear Reprocessing Plants. This work includes samples collected from three full-depth water columns in two areas: i) the Arctic Ocean, where Atlantic waters carry the signal of Sellafield (United Kingdom) and La Hague (France) nuclear reprocessing facilities; and ii) the western Mediterranean Sea, directly impacted by Marcoule reprocessing plant (France). This work is complemented by the study of the particle-reactive Pu isotopes as an additional fingerprint of the source region. In the Canada Basin, Atlantic waters showed the highest concentrations and ²³⁷Np/²³⁶U ratios in agreement with the estimated values for North Atlantic waters entering the Arctic Ocean and tagged with the signal of European Nuclear Reprocessing Plants. These results may reflect the impact of the documented releases for the 1990s. In the Mediterranean Sea, an excess of ²³⁶U presumably caused by Marcoule is reflected in the lower ²³⁷Np/²³⁶U ratios compared to the Global Fallout signal in all the studied samples. On the contrary, the ^239,240Pu profiles were mainly governed by the Global Fallout. The impact of Marcoule as a local source is further corroborated when comparing the temporal evolution of these ratios between 2001 and 2013. The lowest ²³⁷Np/²³⁶U ratios observed in 2001 at the surface reflect a previous local input that is no longer observed in 2013 as it had been homogenized through the whole water column. This work presents the use of ²³⁷Np as a new ocean tracer. A more accurate characterization of the main sources is still needed to optimize the use of ²³⁶U-²³⁷Np as a new tool to understand transient oceanographic processes.

On the use of MnO2 cartridges for the plutonium determination in seawater

To analyze plutonium (Pu) in open ocean waters can be challenging due to the low seawater concentrations. In this study we compared two techniques for Pu determination, one in-situ MnO₂ cartridge system and the more commonly used MnO₂ precipitation technique. During the pre-pilot GEOTRACES cruise ANT XXX-1 (2005) we tested MnO₂ cartridges for the pre-concentration of Pu from seawater at 19 sampling stations on a transect in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean between Vigo (Spain) and Cape Town (South Africa). Our in-situ sampling setup consisted of one particle cartridge followed by three MnO₂ cartridges in a series. Through the system we pumped between 956 and 2700 l of surface seawater with a flow rate between 1.6 and 5.2 l/min. We found that the adsorption efficiency of a single MnO₂ cartridge to adsorb Pu was rather constant and on average a 58 ± 7%. The adsorption efficiency was also found to be independent of seawater: temperature in the range of 18.3-29.2 °C, salinity range 34.2-37.1‰, and conductivity in the range of 46.8-58.4 mS/cm. In parallel with the in-situ sampling, discrete surface water samples between 259 and 281 l were taken and Pu was pre-concentrated using the MnO₂ precipitation method. We find a good agreement between the Pu concentrations determined with the two different techniques. The in-situ pre-concentration technique requires more radiochemical work in the laboratory but has the advantage that large seawater volumes can be sampled without the necessity for radiochemical processing on-board the ship. The much larger volumes sampled with the in-situ technique compared with the precipitation technique, enables accurate determination of Pu-isotopic ratios with a low relative standard deviation. We have shown in this study that in-situ MnO₂ cartridge technique can be used in a reliable way for the determination of dissolved Pu seawater concentration in open ocean waters.

Pacific Proving Grounds radioisotope imprint in the Philippine Sea sediments

Radionuclide concentrations were studied in sediment cores taken at the continental slope of the Philippine Sea off Mindanao Island in the equatorial Western Pacific. High resolution deposition records of anthropogenic radionuclides were collected at this site. Excess ²¹⁰Pb together with excess ²²⁸Th and anthropogenic radionuclides provided information about accumulation rates. Concentrations of Am and Pu isotopes were detected by gamma spectrometry, alpha spectrometry and ICP-MS. The Pu ratios indicate a high portion (minimum of 60%) of Pu from the Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG). This implies that the transport of PPG derived plutonium with the Mindanao Current southward is similarly effective as the previously known transport towards the north with the Kuroshio Current. The record is compared to other studies from northwest Pacific marginal seas and Lombok basin in the Indonesian Archipelago. The sediment core top was found to contain a 6 cm thick layer dominated by terrestrial organic matter, which was interpreted as a result of the 2012 Typhoon Pablo-related fast deposition.

Continuous transport of Pacific-derived anthropogenic radionuclides towards the Indian Ocean

Unusually high concentrations of americium and plutonium have been observed in a sediment core collected from the eastern Lombok Basin between Sumba and Sumbawa Islands in the Indonesian Archipelago. Gamma spectrometry and accelerator mass spectrometry data together with radiometric dating of the core provide a high-resolution record of ongoing deposition of anthropogenic radionuclides. A plutonium signature characteristic of the Pacific Proving Grounds (PPG) dominates in the first two decades after the start of the high yield atmospheric tests in 1950's. Approximately 40-70% of plutonium at this site in the post 1970 period originates from the PPG. This sediment record of transuranic isotopes deposition over the last 55 years provides evidence for the continuous long-distance transport of particle-reactive radionuclides from the Pacific Ocean towards the Indian Ocean.

Excess of (236)U in the northwest Mediterranean Sea

In this work, we present first (236)U results in the northwestern Mediterranean. (236)U is studied in a seawater column sampled at DYFAMED (Dynamics of Atmospheric Fluxes in the Mediterranean Sea) station (Ligurian Sea, 43°25'N, 07°52'E). The obtained (236)U/(238)U atom ratios in the dissolved phase, ranging from about 2×10(-9) at 100m depth to about 1.5×10(-9) at 2350m depth, indicate that anthropogenic (236)U dominates the whole seawater column. The corresponding deep-water column inventory (12.6ng/m(2) or 32.1×10(12) atoms/m(2)) exceeds by a factor of 2.5 the expected one for global fallout at similar latitudes (5ng/m(2) or 13×10(12) atoms/m(2)), evidencing the influence of local or regional (236)U sources in the western Mediterranean basin. On the other hand, the input of (236)U associated to Saharan dust outbreaks is evaluated. An additional (236)U annual deposition of about 0.2pg/m(2) based on the study of atmospheric particles collected in Monaco during different Saharan dust intrusions is estimated. The obtained results in the corresponding suspended solids collected at DYFAMED station indicate that about 64% of that (236)U stays in solution in seawater. Overall, this source accounts for about 0.1% of the (236)U inventory excess observed at DYFAMED station. The influence of the so-called Chernobyl fallout and the radioactive effluents produced by the different nuclear installations allocated to the Mediterranean basin, might explain the inventory gap, however, further studies are necessary to come to a conclusion about its origin.

Plutonium isotopes as tracers for ocean processes: a review

Since the first nuclear weapons tests in the 1940s, pulsed inputs of plutonium isotopes have served as excellent tracers for understanding sources, pathways, dynamics and the fate of pollutants and particles in the marine environment. Due to the well-defined spatial and temporal inputs of Pu, the long half-lives of (240)Pu and (239)Pu and its unique chemical properties, Pu is a potential tracer for various physical and biogeochemical ocean processes, including circulation, sedimentation and biological productivity, and hence a means of assessing the impacts of global climate change. Due to the source dependency of the Pu isotopic signature, plutonium isotopes are beginning to be exploited as tools for the evaluation and improvement of regional and global ocean models that will enhance understanding of past and future changes in the oceans. This paper addresses the major sources of Pu and the physical and biogeochemical behaviour in the marine environment. Finally, the use of Pu isotopes as tracers for various oceanic processes (e.g. water mass transport, particle export, and sedimentation) is considered.